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From Manhattan to Auckland - fashion week warmly welcomes American designer Nicole Miller.
On a steamy Manhattan summer's afternoon I find myself cabbing through the garment district, a busy little quadrant on the west side, home to fashion designers and fabric purveyors. Men unload rolls of fabric from tiny vans, and employees smoke in huddles on the pavements. With its tight, dim streets, trashy bead shops and cheap hotels, it's more gritty than glamorous, but if you want an obscure button or a lavish trim, this is the place to come.
We toot past flashing Times Square then round the corner to Fashion Avenue where I have an appointment to meet New York fashion designer Nicole Miller.
Miller, 59, owns a fashion empire with business partner Bud Konheim. Launched in 1999 its turn over is approximately US$650 million (NZ$891m).
If you've never heard of Miller, it's because most of her business happens in the States and, according to her right-hand marketing man Eric Delph, the core of her designs have historically focused on prom dresses, gowns and cocktail frocks that fetch anywhere from US$300 to $1500 a pop - a lucrative market with repeat business.
Many of her gowns have graced the covers of international fashion titles worldwide; think Vogue, W, Elle, and her designs are available at Nicole Miller flagship stores throughout the US and also Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom and Bloomingdales.
Intrigued by her success and why on earth she is coming to New Zealand for our fashion week, I find myself on the 20th floor of her Seventh Avenue address. Black-stained floors are matched by shiny black mannequins fitted in tight little dresses, bright prints and glitzy sequins.
The showroom is as big as a basketball court and includes at least six collections. Bridal, "for non-traditional or second-time round brides", Eric tells me, runway which has a seasonless feel, collection (glitzy evening gowns), daywear, sportswear, resortwear and accessories.
"We're the only fashion house that delivers every month," he explains as I wait with my Nicole Miller branded water bottle.
While I flick through the fashion racks, young, sylph-like assistants flit through the showroom in diaphanous outfits plucking garments off the racks. The thing that strikes me is the sheer volume and diversity of her collections. While I'd feel comfortable in a silk, camouflaged printed trench, I'd never envision wearing a cobalt blue, ruched fitted gown.
Miller arrives dressed youthfully in a tight denim mini, a black tee with a punkish rose and skull print and high wedges embellished with studded ankle straps. She looks more like 40 than a year off 60, has striking red hair, wears square black glasses, and speaks in a direct, business-like way.
Although her clothes look ultra-feminine, she's quick to point out she's not at all "girly".
"I'm not into bows and frills, I like more angular designs," she explains matter of factly. For example, Miller likes to toughen up a fitted dress with a blazer.
Her customers are body conscious women, looking for a well-fitted frock that's both sexy and forgiving.
"We spend so much time working out at the gym, why hide it?"
Miller, a petite size four, still pulls off the look, but says she's careful to use elements in her designs that flatter. She works with panels, ruching, tidal wave pleating that work to draw the eye away from problem areas.
Miller is most animated when talking about her designs. She plucks through the rack.
"I'm known for this tidal wave pleating, when you place it across the stomach, it makes you look thin," she enthuses.
The Texan born designer is also a fan of silk, olive hues, bold prints and leather. She shows me a pair of leather pants made more comfortable by applying a soft, giving fabric on the rear of the pant.
Other "likes" include matte sequins, classic blazers and fine chains inserted on T-shirts.
Her attention to detail was honed at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne, where draping and couture techniques were painstakingly enforced. Her mother, born in Paris, encouraged her interest with international fashion magazines and chic French dolls, and so not surprisingly she chose fashion as her major for her first degree in fine arts at the Rhode Island School of Design in the US.
Miller has a plentiful celebrity following; Angelina Jolie, Halle Berry, Alicia Keys and Beyonce are just a few starlets who have strutted the red carpet in her designs. Her most memorable celebrity appearance was when Jolie wore a pink and yellow gown at the film premiere of Mr and Mrs Smith.
"Everyone was speculating there was something going on because their body language was so awkward, they were standing side by side but not touching at all. This shot with her in my dress was on the cover of every celebrity magazine. It did amazing things for my brand".
In contrast to her expensive gowns, Miller has a diffusion line for mass-market store, JC Penney, and was one of the first designers to collaborate in this way. She sees affordable high fashion as a growing concern. Her response to the economic slowdown, for example, has been a new range of less-expensive day dresses and expansion into the accessories market, specifically shoes, eyewear and bags.
With all this on her plate, you'd think Miller might be a workaholic, but she tries to spend plenty of time away in the Hamptons, specifically Sag Harbour, where she owns a second home. She spends summers there with her husband and 12-year-old son, and likes nothing better than a spot of fishing, water skiing and wake boarding.
Why leave all this for a chilly New Zealand September? Her appearance at fashion week this year, she says, is part-pleasure, part-business.
"I've always wanted to go to New Zealand and my friend, the designer Richie Rich, went last year and thought it was amazing, so he put me in touch with the organisers."
Miller also sees her business expanding into Asia and thinks both Australia and New Zealand will provide good connections to these markets.
So what can we expect on the Kiwi runway?
She plans to show some of her more inter-seasonal styles from her latest New York fall collection [which she showed just days ago] along with a selection of knitwear and separates, plus a smattering of evening wear.
Although "not that familiar" with NZ brands, Miller thinks our designers are "contemporary and quirky", citing Cybele as one of her favourites - quite a rap from a member of the Council of Fashion Designers of America.
As we wander to say our goodbyes at the reception desk, I ask her for one single most important piece of style advice.
"Invest in a two-way mirror, if you know how you look from the front, you definitely should know how you look from behind."
"Good point," I reply cupping my hand over my bird's nest of hair, as she disappears behind the glass doors of her shimmering empire.
